


Fakes and Formalities

by HecatesKiss



Series: Earthbound Pleasures [8]
Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-25
Updated: 2015-04-25
Packaged: 2018-03-25 18:02:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,514
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3819784
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HecatesKiss/pseuds/HecatesKiss
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jim's chosen family runs into each other on Fleet Campus due to a lecture being given by one of his "little" brothers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fakes and Formalities

Jim grinned as he heard a familiar voice yell his name across the common. He spun and opened his arms. The young woman rocketed into his embrace with a squeal. He laughed and spun her around before he let her feet slide to the ground.

“Jamie! I’m _old_ enough!” The girl grinned, green eyes sparkling as her dark hair bobbed energetically in a tight ponytail. Jim laughed and stepped back.

“Corianne Delayne. Starfleet Cadet. You are going to cause the instructors no end of grief.” Jim tossed an arm around her shoulders and then looked up as somebody yelled Cori’s name.

“Young lady, if I have told you once, I have told you a thousand times… and just _who_ is this?” Jim passed Cori his PADD and held out his hand to the woman dressed in severe ‘Fleet issue green.

“James T. Kirk, Ms…”

“Maitland. You haven’t explained why you have your hands on her.” The frosty scowl and dull brown eyes was one he remembered from FCPS. He’d driven his escort nuts too.

“Cori is my little sister, ma’am.”

“Ms. Delayne has no siblings.” The delivery was nearly Vulcan in its emotionless tone.

“Wrong. She has at least three older brothers.” Jim’s voice was pleasant but his eyes were cold. “By the way Cori? That encrypt was put on by one of the… ah hell, privacy, Citizen!” Jim groaned, snatching the PADD out of the girl’s hands. He stared at the neon pink background and just shook his head.

“If that was the best… we’ve got problems, Jamie.” Cori said with a grin. Jim laughed and affectionately tugged on her ponytail. He then turned his attention back to Ms. Maitland.

“You are familiar with Cori’s file, correct? She is a Survivor. Cori, Tommy, and Kev are my _family_ Ma’am. I’m their big brother. That will _never_ change. And why didn’t you call me that night, Scamp?”

“She wouldn’t let me. Why didn’t you call me??”Cori’s hands fisted on her hips. Jim winced.

“I had a class. They talked about it.” Jim shifted from foot to foot. Cori blinked.

“In front of you?” Cori asked, tugging on her green shirt. Jim nodded.

“Stupid. You don’t _do_ that. Not with… do they not know basic psychology??”

“It’s Starfleet.” Jim said, lip quirking into a smile as he dug into his pocket and handed Cori a half wrapped protein bar.

“Jamie…”

“Eat it.” Jim waited until she started on it before he turned his attention back to the FCPS woman whose eyebrow was nearly in her hairline.

“How?”

“I kept her alive for five hellish months. She’s my little sister. And it’s synthchocolate.” That fact caused Jim to grin. “Oh, Cori? You were right, I owe you an orange.”

“Orange… wait, you got… sweet!” Jim laughed as the girl bounced up and down and crammed more of the synth bar into her mouth.

“Yep. What you heard from your Dad was true. Nobody beats that thing. So I owe you an orange. What do you two have?”

“Ms. Delayne was going to tour the Campus. And we wish not to take time away from…”

“I’m only on campus to catch a lecture… actually, it would probably be something Cori would want to hear. Tommy’s on campus today. It’s his lecture.” Jim said. Cori swallowed, licked the crumbs from her lips and cheered.

“Mind you, it’s going to be bio-chemical bullshit, but…”

“If Tommy is talking about crop disintegration, it’s not like we all haven’t heard and argued it...” Cori trailed off. Jim nodded and chuckled.

“I doubt that--”

“Dr. Thomas Leighton is one of the foremost knowledgeable experts on what happened on Tarsus IV when it comes to the crop blight. Cori and I watched it happen. We can probably manage to screen heckle… if we sit in the back…” Jim suggested. He grinned as he watched those green eyes light up.

“Where are we going?”

“My usual classroom. Conference Delta Four. And we’ve got twenty minutes. So change my damn PADD back, please. That color _hurts_.”

“Wuss.” Cori said, slipping the PADD from Jim’s grasp and poking at it.

“Baby.” Jim responded.

“Brat.” Cori called.

“Kid.” Jim returned.

“Girl.” Cori smirked, passing the PADD back.

“I am _not_!” Jim called. Cori laughed and easily slipped her hand into his. With the Federation Child Protective Services personnel trailing along behind them, Jim headed towards his usual classroom and grinned at the thought of heckling one of his little brothers.

* * *

Jim and Cori took the back row, in shadow, the frowning Ms. Maitland parked right next to them. Jim kept his PADD between them and watched as Dr. Leighton took the stage. Jim knew Tommy hadn’t seen either of them because he had chosen the position deliberately. It was partially blocked by a pillar. Neither of them really needed to see the screens.

The lecture was mostly boring technical babble, which Jim and Cori both poked fun at on a private PADD channel. However, when the good Doctor opened questions to the floor, Cori stood up and stepped forward.

“Dr. Leighton, was the fungal stage two or stage three that we called Worms?” Cori asked, voice completely serious. Jim bit his lip to keep from laughing.

“Corianne Delayne. You know very well it was stage four.” Tommy responded without missing a beat even as his face stretched into a smile and his grey eyes sparkled.

“Because stage five was that disgusting black gunk.” Jim commented just loudly enough for his voice to carry. “Or, as the Doctor would later call it, ‘complete structural disintegration.’. I still just call it nasty.” 

“The smell was rather unpleasant.” Cori agreed as various members of the faculty turned and gaped.

“For those unaware, may I introduce my older brother and little sister. James Kirk and Corianne Delayne. They also have first hand knowledge of the crop blight, though it is often in more colorful terms than the scientific.” All three gave minute shudders as memories rose for a moment.

“Were there any stages of the fungal infection that were not toxic? Doctor Sidney Malone’s research…” a woman in science blue asked, trailing off. Jim, Cori and Tommy all shook their heads.

“No. There was no stage of the infection that wasn’t toxic. Lethal? That was a matter of condition. The spores infected everything. Even basic ‘Fleet rations were not safe if the seals were compromised. However, the fungus would not grow on complex proteins like meat or synthetic compounds.” Jim responded, having studied the spore significantly in his off time.

“The only exception to that was the native i’gava fruit. The fungus would not latch onto that in any form. We later found out that the structure that allows it to ferment so quickly into ethanol was the reason the spores died on contact with the juice, flesh, or outer shell.” Tommy said, raking a hand through his dark hair. Jim grinned. He watched Cori frown and raise her hand. Tommy nodded.

“So, wait… does that mean Jamie’s store of brandy kept us alive?” 

Jim felt his face heat and he buried his face in his hands with a groan. He heard Tommy laugh. He flipped Tommy off more through habit than any true anger. He heard Cori chuckle.

“That is actually the case. The fact that _any_ children made it off the face of that planet is largely due to the fact we were willing to eat the fruit, even while it was still green. It introduced a specific compound to our blood. It also prompted us to bluntly put, puke our guts out if we ate something infected. Survivors like Cori, Jamie, and myself have an innate sense of what is ‘good’ or ‘bad’ in food.”

“What do you mean by that, Dr. Leighton?” One of the other people in science blues asked as Jim and Cori easily slipped down to the front row, Ms. Maitland trailing along behind with a disapproving frown.

“I’m pretty sure that on the actual Anniversary, each of us had either a shot of I’gava Brandy, I’gava juice, or a piece of the actual fruit.” Tommy paused. Both Cori and Jim nodded as they settled into their new seats. “We constantly re-introduce the compound into our bloodstream. It lasts two full standard years before it’s broken down completely. The compound prevents most standard poisons from remaining in a person’s system. The fungus, once ingested mimicked classic signs of poisoning. Vomiting was the only way to get rid of it. The compound triggered that response. It was a beneficial mechanism to us. We didn’t realize it was the i’gava at the time. Of course, Jamie was also the one puking his guts out much of the time too. Thanks for that, by the way.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Jim responded, waving his hand to dismiss the thank you.

“No. Really. Jim Kirk poisoned himself on more than one occasion. The fungus in sub-stage one, what we referred to as --”

“Kippy Fakes!” Cori called out. Jim and Tommy both chuckled, while her FCPS minder just looked horrified.

“Yes. Kippy Fakes, after the Kipsilan Mushroom. This slide here has a Kipsilan and the sub-stage one in side by side comparison. As you can see, from a quick inspection they look very, very similar. However, I’m sure Cori can still tell me which is which, even without the labels up.”

“Left one is the Fake. Right is the actual mushroom.” Cori said after a glance. Jim nodded, trusting her judgement. Tommy smiled.

“Correct. Tell the others how?”

“All right. Top of the mushroom, the bell indents slightly. And there is a pale mottling that is missing from the fungus. Also, where the bell of the mushroom turns under, there should be a faint blue line. The fungus doesn’t have it. It’s why we never ate just the heads of mushrooms we found. Couldn’t tell readily which was which without the stem also present.” Cori said as she swung her feet back and forth. Jim offered her a high five.

“We found _that_ out the hard way. About eighty people died from mistaking sub-stage one for the Kipsilan.That’s just what we know.” Tommy said as he reached into his bag and pulled out a medium sized plastic bag full of pale bell shaped mushrooms. He held it out to Cori, who bounded out of her chair and popped open the bag.

“Pass those around for me Cori.” Tommy said with a smile. She grinned and did as asked. Both Jim and Cori examined a mushroom, Cori grabbing her FCPS minder’s wrist to keep her from nibbling on it.

“I wouldn’t. It’s still poisonous right now.” Cori said, face serious. The woman froze. 

“But… you…”

“Yeah, we ate them, lady. However, you have to blanche them first. The poison leaches out in the cooking water. Dump the pot, scrub it clean, refill and throw the cold rinsed Kippys back in.” Cori said, exasperated.

Jim watched the scientists trade looks. He watched one woman scrub her fingers on her science blues. Jim shook his head and took both the mushrooms he and Cori had been looking at. He gathered them all back into the bag, sealed it and dropped it back into Tommy’s bag before he returned to his seat.

“Jim? Cori? I do have a pot of Kippy Stew here. If you two want a cup.” Tommy called as he shifted towards a sealed cooker. Jim and Cori were out of their seats with a grin.

“Meat?” Cori asked, licking her lips.

“Nope.” Tommy responded.

“Good.” Jim retorted, quickly setting up cups for everyone. Cori automatically got the first cup. He held each cup and passed them along after Tommy had filled them. Soon every person was staring at the insides of the cup with a frown. He took his cup last and sipped at the broth. Sweet, nutty, and memorable.

“Jim? Tell them what’s in this.” Tommy grinned as Jim paused in chewing to glare.

“All right. Kippys, water, i’gava tree shoots, roots from fasi grass, tastes like there might be a bit of inner i’gava bark, the bitter-sweet flavour tells me that… and i’gava fruit. Oh hey, neon yellow means some of that weird tuber we all called skunkwar…. which also had to be blanched before eating…” Jim tipped his cup and poked at the chunk of bright yellow tuber that was in the honey coloured broth.

“This is what we ate on a good day. What is in each cup is about two hundred calories. The tubers added bulk to the meal. Once we figured out we could leach the poison from them while whole, we also buried them in the coals of our cooking fires, wrapped in i’gava leaves. The leaves drew out the poison, leaving the leaf blue, while the tuber was safe to eat. And this time, Jim? We have salt.” Tommy said, as he set down his cup and shifted the cooker’s pot aside, to reveal coals below. A stick carefully worked small, round, chicken egg sized, leaf wrapped tubers to the surface, before the tubers were flipped to a plate.

“That will take about five minutes to cool. And the reason Cori asked about meat is occasionally we’d catch a lizard-like creature called an Aka, or guinea pig like creatures caled Soti. There were also rats. So there’d be shreds of meat in the stew.”

“You ate… rats?” One science officer looked positively green as she glanced in her cup.

“Back and haunches had a good chunk of meat…” Jim muttered around a bite of tuber. He shrugged at the odd looks. Rotisserie rat was actually pretty damn tasty when you were starving.

“We had to survive somehow.” Cori stated, shrugging. She was just as pragmatic about it as any of the others had been. Jim automatically handed the rest of his cup to Cori and easily hot fingered a leaf wrapped tuber open. He pressed down with a thumb and watched the skin split. He lifted his hand away and stared intently at his thumb.

Everyone watched with horrified fascination as the other two Survivors watched Jim watch his thumb. “If the skunkwar isn’t totally leached, my thumb will be stained blue, and we put it back under.”

“Works better than eating it and your lips turning blue…” Cori muttered. Tommy snorted.

“Yeah, respiratory arrest was always a ball.” Jim returned. All three survivors laughed slightly and traded looks.

“At least it was only that one time. And Grace taught us all CPR.” Tommy muttered. Jim nodded. He looked at his thumb again and grinned. He split the tuber in two and tossed half of it to Tommy, who caught it and popped the chunk into his mouth.

Jim turned as he felt eyes on him. He felt Cori’s hand slip into his. He smiled slightly as his bondmate stepped down the aisle, clad in black Vulcan robes instead of science blues. Jim felt his breath catch. Cori’s fingers tightening on his own reminded him to breathe again.

“Cadet, ma’am. Doctor.” Spock murmured, tipping his head. Jim grinned. He felt the pulse of warmth and a cautious unease ripple across the bond. That caused a brief frown.

“Commander, may I introduce my little sister, Corianne Delayne and one of my little brothers, Doctor Thomas Leighton.” Jim placed an arm around Cori and nodded towards Tommy.

“Greetings.” Spock murmured, offering the ta’al. Jim grinned when Cori duplicated the move flawlessly.

“Good job, Scamp. Ow! Hey, what was that for?” Jim rubbed at his side with a frown.

“You are being rude.” Cori responded. Jim just shook his head and chuckled. He didn’t need to greet his bondmate formally. He held his free hand out, two fingers extended. Spock automatically met the caress with his own fingers and then dropped his hand.

Tommy cleared his throat. Jim merely met his gaze and lifted an eyebrow. Tommy just glanced between the two men and shook his head.

“Later?” Jim suggested. Tommy nodded.

“Actually, Cadet, I was wondering if you would accompany me, if you have nothing else scheduled?”

“I am at your disposal, Commander.” Jim returned, tipping his head down slightly to hide his smile.

“Might I speak to you in private, Cadet?” Spock asked, hands folded behind his back. Jim nodded and both men stepped away from the small group.

 

“Jim. I was going to register our bonding with the Embassy today. I was simply going to fill out the paperwork and submit it. However, my mother is at the Embassy.” Spock allowed a brief frown to cross his face. Jim felt the anxiety slip across the bond.

 

“Let me guess… your Mom would skin you alive if you merely filed paperwork. She’ll want a ceremony.” Jim said. Spock nodded.

“I don’t want to get on the bad side of your Mom.” Jim responded, blue eyes widening.

“I suspected you might say that. Tradition suggests black robes. However, if you wish for Terran customs, my Mother would be pleased to see it.”

“Your Mom is Dr. Amanda Grayson. Whatever she wants, Spock. If that means me in a monkey suit, then I’ll do it.”

“Monkey suit?”

“Tuxedo.” Jim responded as he pulled out his PADD. He pulled up formal wear and paused. He traded a look with his bondmate and frowned. “What are your House Colors?”

“Blue for peace and green to remind us that blood is abhorrent to shed.” Spock responded, eyebrow arching. Jim nodded. He showed Spock the selections he had made and Spock made minute adjustments, and typed a rapid string of numbers and letters in. The PADD blinked and chimed before it went dark.

“Um…”

“I just made certain the suit would be delivered to the Embassy. Your family may accompany you. Is there anyone else you would wish...”

“Kev would kill me…” Jim trailed off, with a frown. Suddenly Cori’s laughter broke out and Jim turned. “Holy shit...:”

“Hey, Jamie!” Kevin called, fingers busily working at Cori’s sides, making the young woman briefly squirm before she danced out of his reach. She smacked him playfully on the arm. Jim walked over to his other “little brother”, Spock trailing along behind.

“Kev! My main man. How are you?” Jim asked, easily offering a fist bump.

“Doing well. Was here on campus today, due to needing a look around for classes next term. Then I saw that this jerk was giving a lecture.”

“Oh great. You and Cori both.” Jim responded with a grin. Kev traded a look with Cori and then both just beamed and high fived. Tommy and Jim shook their heads.

“Jim?” Spock murmured and Jim reached back to his bondmate before he made the introductions for Kevin Riley. He glanced at Ms. Maitland, who was frowning and checking her watch.

“Mr. Kirk, I don’t want to take up any more of your time…”

“You aren’t ma’am. Cori’s family.”

“Your Commander seems…”

“The business the Cadet and I have is private. However, you are all welcome to accompany us. Our business takes us to the Vulcan Embassy. It would be my honor to escort you.” Spock tipped his head down.

“If you think it’s all right…”

“It is, ma’am.” Jim said with a small smile. He then glanced at his siblings and then at Spock.

“Give me five minutes, sir?” Jim asked, fighting to keep the grin off his face as amusement rippled across the bond.

“Granted, Cadet.”

“Cori, Kev, Tommy with me.” Jim said. The small group walked far enough away that human hearing wouldn’t catch the discussion.

“Okay, Jamie. What’s up? I know that’s not a normal greeting… so spill it, big brother.” Tommy said with a glare as he wiggled his fingers to get his point across.

“Cori, keep this under your hat, all right?” Jim asked, darting a glance at the girl, who nodded, recognizing the serious nature of the warning.

“The Commander and I are bonded mates. Like Vulcan mind bond, guys.”

“Oh.” Kev said, blinking and shooting a glance towards the black clad Vulcan.

“Whoa.” Cori managed, before a grin split her features.

“Congrats?” Tommy managed, before a grin split his face. He clapped Jim on the shoulder and gave him a little shake. Jim grinned back.

"Thank you." Jim managed. 

"Why the Embassy?" Kevin asked, tipping his head to the side. 

"My bondmate is the son of the Vulcan Ambassador to the Federation." Jim murmured, shifting his weight from one foot to the other.

"Moving up, Jamie. " Tommy teased with a small smirk. Corianne jabbed Tommy in the side and glared.

"Ow. She always liked you better." Tommy muttered. The other three siblings traded a look and laughed. Cori stuck her tongue out. Jim shook his head.

"Okay. Ceremony. Colors?" Tommy asked. 

"Green and blue." Jim responded as he pulled his PADD out. Tommy snagged it and pulled up the last entry. A few chimes later he nodded.

"Okay, before your mate freaks, Embassy. I'll take Kev."

“Thanks Tommy.” Jim said before he turned back to his mate and nodded.


End file.
